Oil and gas separator



May 21, 1935:

E. .1. RILEY 2,001,851

OIL AND GAS SEPARATOR Filed Sept. 26, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 21, 1935. E. .1. RILEY OIL AND GAS SEPARATOR Filed Sept. 26, 1953 2 $heets$heet 2 i II In Patented May 21, 1935 PATENT OFFICE OIL AND GAS SEPARA'IOR Edward J. Riley, Tulsa, Okla., assignor to Smith Separator Corporation, Tulsa, Okla a corporation of Oklahoma Application September 26, 1933, Serial No. 691,064

' 8 Claims. (c1. ice-2.7)

This invention relates to improvements in oil and gas separators and more particularly to. stationary means for efiecting a clean separation between oil and gas as they attempt to pass in admixture through the separator.

. One of the objects of the invention is to pro-- vide improved unitary means which may be readily installed within the casingor tank of an oil and gas separator.

Another object is to furnish separating means comprising a number of parts which may be inexpensively manufactured and readily assembled to form a separating unit.

A still further object is to supply separating -means including upper and lower concentric, slotted tubes, separated from one another by an imperforate umbrella shed which causes gas carrying entrained oil globules to travel in a circuitous path first through the lower tubes and subsequently through the upper tubes, so as to eifectively knock out the oil globules from the gas 'stream.

A further object is to provide a separating unit of the above mentioned type having a crown disk at its top to compel passage of the gas stream outwardly into impact against the inner surface of the tank before the stream escapes from the latter, whereby any oil-globules not separated by the slotted tubes will be caused to impinge against the inner surface of the tank and to thence flow downwardly into the lower portion of the tank.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 1 A

In the drawings? Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in vertical section of a conventional'type of oil and gas separator in which my invention is embodied.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view partly in elevation of my improved separating unit.

, Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 4 designates the tank 01' an oil and gas separator having an inlet pipe 5 terminating in a centrifugal or tangential nozzle 6 which has not been shown but may be of the type shown in U. S. Patent 1,779,023, dated October 21, 1930. A conventional float control I is arranged at one side of the tank and acts to control the outlet valve 8 through which oil is discharged from the tank. Gas passes out of the tank by way of the outlet fitting 9. All of these parts are of known construction and they may be used with a heat exchanger H) of the type shown in my U. S. patent application, Serial No. 682,719, filed July 28, 1933.

My present invention resides in a separating unit ll of special type which is positioned in the tank between the inlet nozzle 6 and the outlet fltting 9. This unit comprises an umbrella shed 10 or frusto conical metal plate 12 of imperforate design, having its lower edge welded to the inner surface of the tank as shown at l3 to prevent any fluid from passing between said edge andthe wall of the tank.

Lower concentric tubes l4, IS, IS, II have their upper edges secured to the plate l2 by any suitable means such as welding and the lower edges of these tubes are firmly secured to the upper surface of a funnel l8 which has a drop leg I! for leading oil downwardly into the lower portion of the tank.

Each of the tubes is provided with vertical slots 20 and it will be noted that the slots of the tubes II and I6 do not extend to the tops of those tubes while the slots in the tubes l5 and i1 do not extend to the bottom. Consequently, the mixture of oil and gas, or wet gas in traveling through the slots from the exterior of the tube ll to the interior of the tube ll must travel in zigzag paths. The stream of wet gas at this stage is passed in chambers l'|--I6 and I5 and the velocity increased so that any fluid contained in the gas will be squeezed outand drained into funnel l8 where it will find passage into down pipe l9. Then when the gas enters the inner chamber l4 its velocity decreases by reason of the fact that chamber ll F is larger in capacity than chambers IS-IB and II. The gas then comes into contact with the surface walls of chamber I4 and byscrubbing up against 4 these walls any fluid in the gas will drop by force of gravity in chamber l4 and will likewise work its way into funnel l8 and thence into down pipe I9. It will be also observed that radially the slots of each tube are staggered relatively to the slots of the next tube to cause the gases in traveling to take a circuitous path? Upper concentric, slotted tubes 2|, 22, 23 and 24 have their lower edges secured to the upper surface of the umbrella shed l2 and the upper edges of these tubes are welded to a crown disk which is of somewhat less diameter than the inner diameter of the tank. The slots 26 of the upper tubes are of about the same length as the height of the tubes in which they are arrangedandthe slots of each of these tubes are staggered relaa face of the tank wall above welding line it, will tively to the slots in the next one of the upper tubes so that gas traveling from the inner tube 2i outwardly to the tube 2 5 will be caused to move in a circuitous path.

The travel of the gas in passing from chamber 2i outwardly to 26 will act inversely from the procedure in lower chambers lE-l6 and H, in that the velocity of the gas moving outwardly in said four chambers will be slowed down and any liquid that might be in the gas at that stage will drop on to the top of umbrella shed l2 and will findits passage into down pipes 29.

One or more holes 38 are provided in the lower edge of the tube i5 so as to allow liquid deposited in the funnel 98 to flow downwardly into the pipe E9.

The tubes Hi and 2i may be integral with each other, i. e. they may be made from a single piece of tubular stock.

In operation, a mixture of oil and gas flowing from one or more wells is introduced into the tank 4 by way of pipe 5 and the nozzle 6 causes the mixture to move circumferentially about the inner surface of the tank. The crude oil and heavier hydrocarbons will gravitate to the bottom of the tank and in so doing will pass through the tubes 3| in the heat exchanger l6 before discharging through the valve 8.

The gases containing the lighter hydrocarbons will rise above the oil level and some of these gases will rub against the inner surfaceof the tank on their way to the slots in the tube ll. These gases at that particular stage are more or less saturated with crude oil, and the unit which I have designed and arranged in the separator is employed to extract to the maximum extent, the oil particles from the gas. The gas, upon rising in the separator, will come in contact with the inner surface of the tank, and a portion of the oil droplets in the gas after being scrubbed against the walls of the separator will drop to the bottom of the latter by force of gravity.

Some of the gases will then come in contact with the under surface of the umbrella shed and will be diverted through the slotted lower tubes M to IT, inclusive.

As the gases strike or impinge against the under surface of the umbrella shed they will be compelled to flow through the slots of the lower tubes and inv so doing will constantly impinge cause an additional amount of oil to be extracted from the gas. This oil will flow down the upper surface of the umbrella shed and will be led by way of the parts 29 into the lower portion of the tank.

After leaving the slots of the tube 24, the gases will be again compelled to flow outwardly beneath the crown disk 25 so as to finally strike against the inner surface of the wall of the tank for the purpose of extracting any additional amount of oil which may have remained commingled with the gas after leaving the slots of the tube 24. Obviously any liquid gathering on the inner surgravitate into the pipes 29. i

The gases flowing upwardly about the edge of the plate 25 will finally discharge through the fitting 9.

From the foregoing it is believed that the con-, struction, operation and advantages of my improved separating unit may be readily understood by those skilled in the art and I am aware that changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed by the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an oil gas separator,-a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively to one another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting against the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partition plate, the slots of each of the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube, means closing the upper ends oi'said upper tubes, all of said lower tubes being closed at their upper ends with the exception of the inner one of said tubes, said inner lower tube communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate.

2. .In an oil gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively to one another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting against the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partition plate, the slots of each of the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube. means closing the upper ends of said upper tubes, said lower tubes having their upper ends abutting against said partition plate, and the inner one of said lower tubes communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate.

3. In an oil gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively toone another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting against the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partitioriplate and having their lower edges abutting said plate, the slots of each of the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube, means closing the upper ends of said upper tubes, all of said lower tubes being closed at their upper ends with the exception of the inner one of said tubes, said inner lower tube communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate.

4. In an oil gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively to one another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting against the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partition plate and havingtheir lower edges abutting said plate, the slots of each of the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube, means closing the upper ends of said upper tubes, said lower tubes having their upper ends abutting against said partition plate, and the inner one of said lowertubes communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate.

5. In an oil gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively to one another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting against the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partition plate, the slots of each of the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube, a crown disc positioned above the upper tubes and abutting against the upper ends of the upper tubes, all of said lowertubes being closed at their upper ends with the exception of the inner one of said tubes, said inner lower tube communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate.

6. In an oil gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively to one another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting against the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partition plate and having their lower edges abutting said plate, the slots of each of the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube, a crown disk positioned above the upper tubes and abutting against the upper ends oi the upper tubes, said lower tubes having their upper ends abutting against said partition plate,- and the inner one of said lower tubes communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate.

'7. In an oil gas separator, a tank hazing a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, lower slotted concentric tubes positioned below said plate and having annular solid portions, said portions being staggered relatively to one another, a funnel arranged in the tank below the tubes and abutting againstv the lower edges of said tubes, upper concentric slotted tubes positioned above the partition plate and having their lower edges abutting said plate, the slots of each or the upper tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent upper tube, a crown disk positioned above the upper tubes and abutting against the upper ends of the upper tubes, said lower tubes having their upper ends abutting against said partition plate, and the inner one of said lower tubes communicating at its upper end with the inner one of said upper tubes, and pipes depending from the funnel and partition plate, said partition plate being ir'iperforate with the exception of a hole at its center to provide communication between the inner tubes of the lower and upper tubes, and being of frusto conical shape with its smaller end uppermost and its larger end secured to the inner surface of the wall of the tank by a gas-tight joint.

8. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a the upper set of tubes, and the upper ends of the lower set of tubes with the exception of the inner one of the tubes of each set, means closing the upperends of the upper set of tubes, the tubes of one set having annular slotted portions stag: gered vertically, and the slots of the other set of tubes being staggered radially relatively to the slots of each adjacent tube of the last mentioned set, the inner tube oi the lower set communicating at its upper end with the inner tube of the upper set, and drain pipes connected to the funnel and partition plate.

nnwaan J. am. 

